DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Information Disclosure Statement The prior art documents submitted by applicant in the Information Disclosure Statements filed 09/11/2025, 09/19/2025, and 11/20/2025 have all been considered and made of record. Joint Inventors This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. Drawings Twenty-two ( 22 ) sheets of drawings were filed on 10 / 11 / 2023 and have been objected to by the examiner. The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “first circular portion” and “second circular portion” of claim 1 must be shown or the features canceled from the claims. No new matter should be entered. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. Claim Objections Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: Line 2 of claim 9 should read “…which is higher than that of the top cladding layer…”. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 1-2 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. With regards to claim 1 , lines 2-8 of the claim recite “… a circular piezo-electric actuator ; and a ring waveguide separated from the circular piezo-electric actuator by a top cladding layer , wherein the circular piezo-electric actuator is offset from the ring waveguide such that a first circular portion of the circular piezo-electric actuator is located on the outside of the ring waveguide and a second circular portion of the circular piezo-electric actuator is located on the inside of the ring waveguide …”. The term “circular piezo-electric actuator” is not further defined in the claims or the specification , but can be reasonably interpreted as the “PZT actuator” further described in the specification. The limitations of claim 1 were initially interpreted as describing the structural interaction between two ring -like structures (the piezo-electric actuator and the ring waveguide) , at least one of which can be categorized into at least two distinct portions . However: The terms “first circular portion”, and “second circular portion” are not further defined in the claims or the specification. Paragraph 68 of the specification states that the “ ring resonator ” may be “… a circular waveguide or a ring waveguide…” . Paragraph 26 of the specification and claim 19 state that the “ ring waveguide ” has “… a shape selected from the group consisting of a ring resonator, a loop resonator, a coil resonator, and a racetrack resonator…”. The structure of the “ring waveguide” is not further described. Thus, i t is unclear how to interpret claim 1 with regards to the structure of the device. For example, it is unclear whether claim 1 is describing a structure where two fully circular ring structures partially overlap in plane, a waveguide at least partially in the form a circle partially circumscribing a fully circular ring structure in plane , or some other different structur e . The drawings received 11/21/2023 were relied upon to clarify the purview of claim 1, but none of the drawings appear to show multiple overlapping rings , or indicate an alternative interpretation of claim 1 . The claim is indefinite because there is a great deal of confusion regarding the claimed structure . Claims 2-22 inherit the indefiniteness of claim 1 on which they depend. Examiners note: Claims 1-22 have not been further treated on the merits because there is a great deal of confusion and uncertainty as to the proper interpretation of the limitations of the claim s . This is not an indication that the claims are allowable under 35 U.S.C. 102 and 35 U.S.C. 103 . The scope of the claim is unclear as discussed above. As a result, a meaningful formulation of art rejections cannot be done at this time. See MPEP § 2173.06 II, 2nd paragraph: “… where there is a great deal of confusion and uncertainty as to the proper interpretation of the limitations of a claim, it would not be proper to reject such a claim on the basis of prior art . … a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 should not be based on considerable speculation about the meaning of terms employed in a claim or assumptions that must be made as to the scope of the claims. ” Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT Marc E Manheim whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (703)756-1873 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT 6:30am - 5pm E.T., Monday - Tuesday and Thursday - Friday . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Thomas A Hollweg can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT (571) 270-1739 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /MARC E MANHEIM/ Examiner, Art Unit 2874 /THOMAS A HOLLWEG/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2874